WASHINGTON – The National Weather service says at least nine confirmed tornadoes touched down in the area Friday afternoon.
All of the tornadoes were in Maryland. They all touched down between 2:30 p.m. and 7 :30 p.m.
The strongest tornadoes were in Howard and Harford counties. Harford County estimates the storms caused $1 million in damage. Those have been classified as EF1 tornadoes, with estimated wind speeds of 86 mph to 110 mph.
The strong Howard County tornado moved along for Watersville Road for 1.4 miles in Watersville, Md.
The EF1 tornado in Harford County was in the Pleasant Hills, Md. area.
Another five tornadoes in the state – three in Montgomery County, one in Prince George’s County and one in Carroll County – have been classified has EF0 with estimated wind speeds of 65 mph to 85 mph.
In Montgomery County, there were two confirmed tornadoes in Damascus, and another near Poolesville. The Prince George’s County tornado was in the Springdale area.
Two more tornadoes were confirmed in Anne Arundel and Carroll counties, but they haven’t yet been classified.
“The Enhanced Fujita Scale goes from zero to five,” says Bryan Jackson, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “EF-0 being 65-to-85 miles an hour [wind gusts], the EF-1 is 86-to-110 [wind gusts].”
He adds that the wind speed estimates are based on the amount of damage.
The National Weather Service says more tornadoes could be confirmed, as they are still investigating other sites. Earlier, the Weather Service estimated that there were many as ten tornadoes in the area Friday. Full results may be available later this week.
Another tornado touched down in Hampton, Va., causing an estimated $4.3 million in damage.
Friday’s storms knocked out power to thousands of people across the region, with many not seeing their electricity return until Saturday afternoon or night.
WTOP’s Max Smith contributed to this report. Follow WTOP on Twitter.
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